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Stojan Zupljanin, one of four Serbians wanted by the UN war crimes tribunal based in The Hague, has been arrested near Belgrade.
The former Bosnian Serb police commander "was arrested near Belgrade at around 12:30 pm (1030 GMT) and transferred to the war crimes court" in the capital, a justice official said.
Zupljanin, 56, had been charged in 1999 with genocide, crimes against humanity, murder and torture during the Bosnian civil war that took place during the 1990s.
Three other war crime suspects, Radovan Karadzic, his military commander Ratko Mladic, and Goran Hadzic, the war time president of the self-proclaimed Serb republic of Krajina in Croatia, are still at large.
Extradition
Bruno Vekaric, a spokesman for Serbia's special war crimes prosecutor, said: "Stojan Zupljanin was arrested today near Belgrade... police and security agents took part in the operation. He should be extradited to the Hague in the next 72 hours."
Zupljanin was found at an apartment about 8km from the centre of Belgrade and was to be taken before an investigative judge at the war crimes court in Belgrade before being extradited.
Vladimir Vukcevic, Serbia's chief war crimes prosecutor, who coordinated the operation, said: "There was no resistance during his arrest. "This arrest shows clearly that we are seriously cooperating [with The Hague] and there is the political will for full cooperation."
Officials said Zupljanin had foiled a previous attempt to arrest him in the southern Serbian city of Nis two months ago.
His family had publicly called on him to surrender, to spare them embarrassment and financial collapse, as all their assets were frozen.
Army commander
Zupljanin, a commander in the city of Banja Luka during the 1992-95 Bosnia war, is charged with killing Muslim and Croat civilians and his arrest was welcomed in Bosnia.
"[He] has been accused of killings, torture, persecution, extermination and other horrid crimes against civilian population in western Bosnia, and his arrest represents a move in the right direction," said Haris Silajdzic, the Muslim member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency.
Thirteen years after the war ended, Mladic, Karadzic and Hadzic are still at large.
Serge Brammertz, the UN's chief prosecutor for Yugoslavia war crimes, told the UN Security Council last week that he believed all four were within Serbia's reach and urged the new government to arrest them.
Bosnian officials said Zupljanin's arrest showed more arrests may be on the way.
"It is a sign that some things will change in Serbia in terms of apprehension of war crimes fugitives," said Muharem Murselovic, a Bosnian Muslim ex-detainee at Serb-run detention camps in western Bosnia, where Zupljanin was in charge.
"It also gives some hope to the victims that people responsible for the crimes cannot evade justice," said Murselovic, currently a deputy in the Bosnian Serb parliament.
EU support
The war crimes suspects' arrest and handover has been a condition for Serbia's advancement towards membership of the European Union, which welcomed the arrest on Wednesday.
"It is an important step towards full cooperation with [the tribunal], which is key to bringing justice and lasting reconciliation in the Western Balkans region," Olli Rehn, the EU enlargement commissioner, said in a statement.
Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, also welcomed the news.
He said: "To have the people who have been prosecuted, arrested and being placed in front of an international tribunal, having a fair trial, is something that is beneficial for everybody."
PHOTO CAPTION:
A convoy of police vehicles transports Zupljanin through the Serbian capital Belgrade [AFP]
Al-Jazeera
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